The Life She Wants

Our Review

THE LIFE SHE WANTS by Robyn Carr is about two best friends who end up estranged for sixteen years. It is a story of heartache, friendship and life lessons learned.

Emma Shay Compton thought she came from poor beginnings and she ended up married to a wealthy older man. She lived the life of a princess until her world is torn apart by her husband’s conviction of fraud and his resulting suicide. Everything was taken away from Emma and she is left homeless and penniless. Knowing she can’t stay in New York because of all the suspicions that she has money socked away, she heads for California where she grew up.

Trying to stay out of the public eye, she is just Emma Shay now. Her one friend Lyle helps her to find a place to live and Emma tries to find a job to support herself. Finding work in a fast food restaurant is the best she can do without any work experience. Adam Kerrigan, Emma’s estranged girlfriend’s brother, comes in to eat and they strike up the friendship they had once had. Adam had always cared for Emma but she was too young to ask out before she left town. Adam’s sister Riley was Emma’s best friend who also cheated with Emma’s boyfriend Jock. Emma has never been able to forgive Riley.

Riley got pregnant by Jock and ended up a single mother. Her mother and brother are her support system. Riley has a cleaning service where she hires a lot of single mothers to work for her. When Adam finds out Emma can’t find a good paying job, he suggests she go to see Riley about a job. It having been sixteen years since their fight and subsequent estrangement, Emma isn’t sure she can forget the past but knows she needs a better paying job to survive. Riley and Emma admit they can never be best friends again but can work together as employer and employee. When Riley finds out her brother, mother and father of her child have made peace with Emma, she feels betrayed and doesn’t know what to do.

THE LIFE SHE WANTS is a story of forgiveness of the past, changes in the future and a new start for everyone involved. This is a book I recommend to all women. You’ll want to cry for the injustice of the law toward a single woman thought guilty just by association. You’ll laugh along with the injured parties when they can look back at the memories of a happier time of being childhood friends. Robyn Carr is always able to bring us a novel worth reading, bringing back memories of happier times in our own lives. I don’t know how she keeps doing this book after book but she does it with ease and I am happy she does.

A recommended read.